Maybe A Dream Ago
by BerrySorbet
Summary: What would happen if Yuffie never met AVALANCHE in their fight to save to world, but instead met a certain gunslinger three years later... "VAMPIRE!" Yuffentine. Adventure/Romance/Comedy. T for mild language!
1. As The Years Have Passed

A/N: Just to clarify, part of this story is based on what could have happened if Yuffie hadn't of been found in the original game. As an optional character I thought it would be interesting to think of what could happen in Yuffie's life if she hadn't bumped into AVALANCHE. I hope you enjoy it!

Ps This is set as if Dirge of Cerberus never happened because I haven't played the game yet and I don't want to make any fatal mistakes! Please understand!

_I never really felt alone. Not until that moment. There was always something holding me back but I couldn't feel it. I always felt there was something missing but I ignored it, who needed feelings like them? My life would go on..._

Run, run, jump, run, run, defend. Through the trees, lightning speed, avoid the ditch. To Da Chao, up the right path, jump over the rope. Turn and block, run. Nearly there, keep running. Second path, avoid edge. Dead end. Climb rock face, find foot hold, pull yourself up. Throw star, run up. Yes!

"Oh yeah! In your face Sensei!" I screamed at the top of my voice. I had made it to the top of Da Chao first!

My teacher jogged up beside me, his breath slightly ragged. "Good job."

I celebrated with an amazing victory dance, but I guess I misjudged the distance from the edge of the cliff face... I frantically waved my hands around and tried to keep my balance when Sensei grabbed a belt loop on my shorts and pulled me back to safety.

"You sure are a clumsy one." He muttered, sheathing his blade.

"Whatever." I snorted. "I still beat you up here!" I gloated, holding my head up high and looking into the distance dramatically.

I won't deny it, I like making scenes.

"You are strong Yuffie," My master commented, "but letting your guard down is your weakness. When you put your mind to something you can win, but without it you're a sitting duck."

"Did you just call me a duck?" I blew the bangs out of my face and scowled at him, what kind of a compliment was that?

Sensei's hearty laugh filled the heavy summer air. "Yes Yuffie, but only sometimes. Stop huffing and let's return to the village, lessons are over."

"I'm not huffing." I protested... Well, huffed. "Anyway it's not that late, we usually train way later than this!"

"I said lessons are over." He replied, strolling down the dirt path.

"Hey! Don't just leave me here!" I shouted after him. I ran to his pace and scuffed the ground as we walked.

"The sunset is so beautiful here." My teacher murmured.

"Really? It's the same as normal." I sighed and started fiddling with a throwing star. "I wish I could get out of this place."

My master chuckled at the thought. "You have yet to see the real world, you will regret leaving one day."

He was a tall man, Sensei, with chocolate coloured messy hair and a strong jaw line. He was the kind of figure you always imagined a father to be. But Sensei wasn't a father, well he was, a long time ago. I don't really know what happened to his family but the old man told me not to ask. Sensei showed up here only three years ago. It was a hot, rainy day, in the summer when a strange man covered in jagged cuts and soaked in blood collapsed in front of the pagoda. Nobody but my father knows what happened to him but Godo decided to keep him in Wutai and made him the fifth guardian of the pagoda.

Since I was sixteen, he's been my trainer, everyday. He teaches all the other kids in the village martial arts but as Princess of Wutai (I love saying that), I have special training with him. As the old man's never around, he's been the closest thing to a father I've ever had.

"You should know one thing though Yuffie." He stopped just outside the outskirts of the village and watched as pink blossom drifted gently on the breeze. "I've taught you all I can."

I frowned at him and blinked.

"This is the end of our training together. You will be able to explore the world now on your own."

"Are you serious Sensei?" This was awesome!

My teacher looked at me and smiled. "I am no longer your Sensei."

I grinned. "Then it's not to inappropriate to do this." I ran over to the brilliant man and hugged him with all my might. "Thank you so much!"

"When has anything been inappropriate with you?" He asked, embracing me back.

"Touché." I stepped back and studied him. "So does this mean I can go wherever I want now?"

"It does indeed."

"Oh thank the GODS!" I yelled, punching my fists in the air and running back into the village. I was getting out of here as soon as possible! "I'll send you a postcard from Midgar!" I hollered back at him.

"You mean Edge!" He shouted back.

Oh yeah. I'd forgotten about the explosion a couple of years ago. I was only sixteen at the time and being in Wutai, we were cut off from the rest of the Planet. I saw the Meteor though, in the sky. It was pretty scary, but apparently the lifestream fought back against it and luckily for us, the world wasn't destroyed. AVALANCHE saved the world not only then but once again only a year ago. It must have been pretty cool, saving the world and all. They're not really known around here because we're so cut off but I bet everyone else on the Planet knows about them... I think they passed through Wutai at some point but only briefly.

Well the Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi was gonna show them what a real hero was like, while stealing all their materia... Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

I ran through the sleepy town and into my little house. I frantically packed a couple of essentials; clothes, a sleeping bag, materia (lots of that), some shurikens and all the gil I could find. I slung the leather bag over one shoulder and strapped my Oritsuru (Godo had given it to me on my eighteenth birthday) to my back. After giving the whole a house a final glance, I picked up a bag of perishable food to give to the neighbours and shut my bright red door.

After dropping off the food I skipped through town and made my way towards the old man's place, smiling the entire way.

"Hello-o" I called as I walked through the door. That was the plus side with having walls made of what I always thought was tissue paper, you can yell for someone across the house and they'll hear you!

"I'm in here!" A distant voice shouted.

"Gee that helps." I muttered, stomping my way through the house and opening every door on my right, trying to find my father.

"Ah, nice day today?" Godo greeted me, his head still looking at his desk.

I shut the sliding door in front of me and stood before my father. "Not bad." I replied, toying with him.

"Anything interesting happen at training?" He asked monotonously.

"Nah nothing much, just that Sensei said I was ready to leave Wutai." I said non-nonchalantly.

"Oh ri-" Godo frowned at my words before they finally sunk in. "What?"

"I know!" I screeched. "He said my training was finished and I could go wherever I wanted!" I jumped up and down and flailed my hands about. Sometimes I can be such a girl.

By this time he had finally looked up at me. "So, where are you going?"

"Pfft I don't know _that_ much, I just know I want to get out of this sleepy little town!"

"What's so wrong with Wutai?" My father defended.

"Ugh nothing! But I'm eighteen! I should be allowed to explore the world! I've stayed here for too long, I can't even remember why I've stayed here so long!" I exclaimed pacing backwards and forwards. "I want to experience things for myself!"

Godo sighed heavily. "I guess you're right, I should feel lucky to have had you this long... Alright then, but come back every once in a while." Godo was always a good dad, he just wasn't around as much as he should have been.

"I'll bring you back some good materia!" I started backing out of the room when I was called back.

"Take this with you, it'll keep you safe." He chucked a scarlet orb across the room and I caught it with cat-like reflexes.

I studied the orb closely before replying. "Is... Is this what I think it is?"

"The legendary Leviathan summon materia, the only one in the world! That should keep you out of trouble for a bit, it's mastered by the way." A smug smile lay plastered on his face.

"Don't worry I'll keep it safe! I could kill at least thirty people with this thing! Maybe even forty! I could try for fifty but that might be pushing it... Maybe if I used this and then..." I rambled, backing out again. This time, he didn't stop me.

That was that! Like I said, Godo and I were on good terms but we didn't really have an emotional relationship. Instead I borrowed the best Golden Chocobo in our private stables and set off to the wide world before me!

...What a let down.

Naturally the biggest town anywhere near Wutai was some place called Rocket Town. I'd been out of Wutai a couple of time on holiday and things, but I'd only been to Costa Del Sol and the Gold Saucer (one of _the_ best place on the Planet).

I was expecting a bustling town with abundant shops, plus the reason the town got its name was because of a rocket that was going to be launched there. Surely it must be an incredible town! Not only that but a member of AVALANCHE used to live there!

...I was not impressed.

This stupid little town was smaller than Wutai! Old derelict buildings lay everywhere and a broken launch pad was rusting on the outskirts of this pathetic village. There wasn't even a materia shop! I put my chocobo in the stables and stayed a night at the local inn, but only because it was nearing nightfall. The owner told me why the town was so deserted. Oil had been found nearby and the few people who lived in Rocket Town had gone to work in the East, leaving the town on its last legs.

The morning after, I exited the disappointment and rode on to better destinations. I didn't want to take anymore chances with the little towns so I headed for a place I knew wouldn't let me down! The Gold Saucer! What was wrong with that place? Nothing! Well, okay I hated getting there on the weird monorail thing, and the gondola ride... But apart from that its my dream city!

It wasn't much fun camping in the mountains, there were more monsters than I'd ever encountered before. I could have taken the route South toward the village of Nibelheim and then East but that would have taken years! What's the point with a Golden Chocobo? Soon the smoky mountains evened out and I found myself in greener pastures. I passed North Corel on my way down but it didn't seem that interesting, I just nabbed a couple of materia here and there, nothing big!

I had been on the road now for a total of four days and I was trying to find an alternate route into the Gold Saucer without riding that damn monorail. There were rumours you could go through Corel Prison so that was my next bet. I was sleeping just outside the desert so my chocobo could feed and had set up a small camp. Tinned food wasn't the best but it felt better to be out on my own than holed up in Wutai.

I had just finished eating when I heard something strange. My ears had been trained better than the average ones but I still couldn't make it out. All I knew was that something - no, two things - bigger than myself were heading towards me. A lion? No, probably a bear... I kicked dirt over my fire and pulled my chocobo into the nearby trees, hoping it would be safe there. I shimmied my way up the nearest tree and crouched low against the branches, waiting for whatever it was to appear. If it went anywhere near my chocobo, it was going down! Leaves blew close to my face but I never lost my concentration.

The noise moved ever closer and now I could hear what sound like... Metal? Were these Shinra troops? I thought Shinra had been destroyed? A voice came into earshot soon after, a woman. A deep voice replied to her before the two people walked into my vision.

At first, all I could see was a blob of red, but when I got a better view, a tall man stood below me. His flowing coal black hair was a stark contrast to his chalky skin and blood coloured eyes. A huge scarlet cloak covered his shoulders and half of his face, while the back trailed to the floor, moth eaten and ripped. A huge golden glove rested on his left hand and two matching golden boots served as his shoes. That was the clanking I had heard. He seemed to give out an aura of grace and tranquillity. He looked quite scary though, a bit like a vampire?

He was soon followed a woman, she was a little taller than me, but not by much. Her long dark brown hair and wine coloured eyes looked somewhat familiar but I had never seen someone as beautiful as her. A pink ribbon was tied to her left arm and she was clad in black and white. She had a warm face but the most noticeable thing about her was her chest. Are you kidding me? They had to be fake...

Anyway, seeing as the guy had materia by the bucket load in his pockets, and I'm a trained ninja and thief, I did the natural thing.

Well, tried.

I was _planning_ to jump down out of the tree unseen and grab the girl by the neck, then use her as as hostage to get the materia.

Unfortunately, just as I had jumped to the floor and was trying to sneak stealthily towards the girl, the man heard me! How? How in Leviathan did he hear the Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi? Gawd, he must have super powers or something...

His scarlet eyes pierced into me and he drew a huge black gun from inside his cloak.

"Aw crap."


	2. Creep

Dodge, dodge, hide. Sneak, run, crap! Run! Dodge, hide, climb, wait. Throw, throw, shield, hide. Jump, run, dodge, roll, throw. Shield, run, snatch, run. Ahh bullets, bullets! Fist, ahh! Kick to the face, ouch.. Blacking out, run, run! No, don't go back for materia, keep running! Catching up, throw. Throw, throw again. Out of throwing stars, run. Shot to the shoulder, blacking out...

"Did you have to shoot her Vincent?"

"She's a thief, she attacked us."

"She's just a little girl!"

"..."

I heard a sigh. "I'd better check she's okay."

Aha! My possum routine had worked! I wasn't actually hurt, nothing could hurt the Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi! I rolled away from the woman's hand and crouched a couple of meters away. "Sorry folks, but your materia is mine!" I pulled the colourful globes I had managed to steal out of my pocket and rolled them around on the fingertips, studying them closely. "Hmm, what do we have, a mastered Restore, boring, a mastered All, boring, and a..." I trailed off as I analysed the red orb. Silver lines grew across the globe and a beautiful sword materialised from the mist inside the ball. "Is this... the legendary Knights of the Round?"

"She's just a common thief." The man's smooth, baritone voice made me feel dizzy. Or maybe that was loss of blood...

"Vincent she's a child." The woman stepped closer. "Please, we need that materia."

"Oh yeah, like I'd just give it back, this is the find of the century! You and your friend are going..." My head felt heavier than usual and my eyelids pulled themselves shut. I felt myself collapsing onto the soft grass.

"...Let's move on."

"We can't just leave her here!"

"..."

OOOOOO

When my brain started to right itself again, I could still feel the grass under my cheek and the smell of damp wood clung to me. My shoulder still burned in agonising pain but I've had worse. When I finally decided to open my eyes, I found myself in unfamiliar territory...

I was in a clearing similar to the one I had fainted in - actually no, I didn't faint, ninjas don't _faint_, I lost conciousness due to a battle wound! Gawd 'faint' is such a girly word... Is it me or is the word 'faint' now sounding really weird?

Anyway, the clearing I was in wasn't the same as the one I had lost conciousness in due to a battle wound. Everything was similar, but different. I sat up gently, trying not to jog the wound on my shoulder and looked around for my chocobo and bags.

The cheek! Those two weirdos had stolen them! From me! A ninja! They stole something from a _ninja!_

A now pissed ninja.

My legs felt numb and wobbly, like a baby deer, but I stood up anyway and tried to balance myself. The first few baby steps were stable but when I tried to put too much weight on them, I found myself tumbling to the floor in a mess.

Staring up at the blue sky above me, scattered with fluffy white clouds, I crossed my arms and huffed loudly, blowing the bangs out of my eyes.

"What's wrong?" A silky voice murmured behind me.

The sudden presence made me jump out of my skin and I scrambled to my feet. Embarrassment seemed to be the cure for wobbly legs.

"You!" I screeched, pointing like a child at the figure.

"..."

"...You!"

"...Me?" The man cloaked in scarlet raised an eyebrow at me.

"Oh so you _are_ capable of emotions then."

"..."

"What you're just going to stare at me? Aren't you going to steal the rest of my stuff?" I asked sarcastically.

He avoided my second question. "... Do you want me to treat your shoulder wound?"

"Are you worried about me now? You didn't seem that fussed about my health earlier!"

"Earlier?"

"Yeah, you know, when you _shot_ me!" I cried turning around and showing him the hole he had created in my shoulder.

The man strode forward and studied the hole. Over my shoulder I could see burnt flesh peeling away slowly. I held back a lurch.

"...This is Cerberus' mark."

"Who's Cerberus?"

The man blinked up at me, his eyebrows knotted together in the middle. He shook his head and looked back at the wound. "How could this be here, I haven't seen you in a week."

I snorted. "Uh yes you have, if the gunshot didn't make it obvious enough, I stole your materia remember?"

The man backed off and held his cloak closer. "What materia?"

"This one." I said slowly, producing the red sphere from my pocket. I swear I had it in my hand when I lost conciousness due to a battle wound...

The man frowned again. He seemed to like doing that. "...That's your materia."

"..." What? "Oh yes, I forgot, this must be mine." I said in an especially loud voice. This guy must have some kind of condition. Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk...

"..."

I broke the awkward silence with a cough and placed the materia back in my pocket. I stooped down to pick my Oritsuru up but realised I couldn't strap it to my back anymore.

The man watched me, a frown still plastered on his face.

"You got a problem?" I asked. "You've already stolen my chocobo with your little girlfriend, what more do you want?"

After another moment of staring at me, he turned and brought a phone out of his pocket, dialling a number and holding it to his ear.

I couldn't make out his low muttering but he didn't look happy. I guess he was pretty cute in some ways. He had that smouldering look about him, tall, dark and handsome. Maybe if he ditched the shredded cape and scary claw thing he'd be pretty hot... No! He's my enemy! Shut up brain!

Every so often he would glance over at me before returning to dark mutters.

After a couple of minutes I got bored of waiting for this guy to finish. I'm a ninja, ninjas don't wait for people. Well, technically they do. But only if they're stalking their prey, which I wasn't doing, so at this point ninjas wouldn't wait... Anyway, I wasn't gonna wait.

The man still seemed pretty deep in conversation so I decided to leave him. My shoulder hurt too much for me to fight him so I thought I'd do the decent thing and leave him, I didn't want him to be humiliated by being beaten by an injured girl!

As I backed away from him and started to wonder off into the forest, trying to find my bearings, the man shouted after me.

"Yuffie!" The phone was now back in his pocket.

Oh geez what did he want now? Wait... "...How in Leviathan do you know my name?"

"Because I know you Yuffie."

"Okay Mr Creepy, I don't know you so if you'd please leave me alone I'll get on my way." I waved at the weirdo and walked away from the clearing. I think I'll refer to him as Creep from now on...

As soon as my head had turned away Creep appeared inches away from me, staring into my eyes. "You don't remember me at all?"

I know I'm not supposed to be scared of anything, but I jumped a mile when the crazy man loomed over me! "Yes, I remember you shooting me pretty vividly!" I retorted.

"You need to come with me." Creep stated, grasping my forearm and pulling me behind him.

This was not a good move.

"No! Get off me! Do you even know who I am?"

"Yes, that's part of the problem."

I stared at him, why did he keep coming out with things that didn't make sense?

"Whatever, do you really think it's a good idea going around grabbing random girls and telling them they need to 'come with you'? I wonder how many times you've scored with that line." I wriggled my arm free, and stood my ground.

"..." The man's scarlet eyes bore into me before he strode forward...

And yanked me over his shoulder!

"Hey! Hey!" I screamed, smacking him enthusiastically on the back. "Let me go!" My Oritsuru had slipped out of my hand when Creep jumped at me.

Creep was silent as he walked through the forest, unphased by what was happening.

"I said put me down!" I screeched. This was so not cool.

Suddenly my head pulsed as if under extreme pressure and I yelped. A snapshot appeared in my mind of the same scene, but back in Wutai... Some thug was carrying me over his shoulder while Creep ran after him.

What?

Creep had stopped walking when I yelped and pulled me down, studying my face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm fine." I stammered. What did all that mean?

Creep grunted in agreement and pulled me back up.

"W-What? You can't put me back up here?" I protested.

"You wouldn't come with me otherwise, would you?"

"..."

Damn.

"Let me go!" I screamed again, aiming my foot towards a very particular region.

I scored.

Creep stopped in his tracks and tensed, breathing deeply, and then carried on like nothing had happened!

I'm sure he's not human...

The man paused again and brought his hand up.

"Did you just grope my ass?"

Creep's chest rumbled with laughter at the thought. Was it really that funny? "I took the materia out of your pocket so you can't use it."

I grumbled a bit before slowly settling down. This was gonna be a _long_ trip...

A/N: This story has no reviews... **sad face**


	3. Truth and Memories

A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews! They really make my day! I hope you decide to review again and enjoy this chapter!

"Oh thank goodness you're okay!" A voice breathed.

Creep had lugged me for an entire day through the forest. I didn't make it easy for him, he'll have black bruises a plenty by tomorrow. Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk...

A large pair of boobs were squished against my face and suffocated me. "I was so worried."

I flailed my arms about in a panic before the breasts were taken away from my mouth. I was huffing heavily afterwards. I looked up at the owner of these mountains and found a familiar face.

"Ahh! Creep's girlfriend!" I yelled, taking a couple of steps back and putting up my hands. I recognised the place I had been taken to; North Corel. The slums were exactly the same as I had left them a couple of day ago; dirty, small and gross. Creep had let me down inside an average sized grey tent with holes in the corners. There were a couple of camp beds inside and a small lantern hanging from the ceiling that cast a yellow glow on everything.

The dark haired girl frowned at me. "Yuffie?"

"How do you know my name as well? You are stalkers, aren't you!" I accused, looking back and forth between the two strangers.

The woman looked over at Creep concerned. "It's just as you said." She told him.

Creep grunted in response, his eyes still on me.

Big Boobs looked back at me and smiled. She had a nice smile, you really wouldn't expect someone like her to be a stalker.

But then again, here I am!

"Well then, we'd better help you. I'm Tifa, it's nice to meet you!" She laughed.

I stared at her. She was introducing herself after she stole my chocobo?

"Tifa." Creep stepped forward. "Yuffie seems to remember something about us."

"Yeah; _you_ shot me," I said pointing at Creep. "and you both stole my chocobo!"

Tifa frowned at me, and then at Creep. "You _shot_ her?" She seemed a bit angry.

"No." He replied.

"Uh yes you did, there's a great big hole in my back to prove it!"

Tifa's eyes narrowed at Creep.

"You were there too." I said to Big Boobs.

She looked at me, astonished, while Creep smirked behind his collar.

"I think something happened to Yuffie while she was away." Creep explained. "That gunshot on her shoulder was a couple of hours old when I found her, but it was from my gun."

Tifa thought for a moment before turning to me. "Yuffie why don't you sit down and tell us what's happened this week?"

Well, I knew they were crazy, but I couldn't resist telling them about my adventures. Maybe they were just deluded fans who wanted to be my friends, I couldn't just leave them!

So I proceeded to tell them all about my adventures across the world! They had a lot of questions at the start when I told them about finishing my ninja training (I think they were impressed I had completed it so early) and leaving Wutai for the first time on my own, but they were listening intently to the rest. I told them about my journeys in Rocket Town and North Corel and finally about how I ran into them. I'm sure they could remember what happened but they insisted I explained my side of the story.

When I finished the stalkers were in deep thought. I amused myself by seeing if one of my hands was bigger than the other.

They were the same size.

Anyway.

Yuffie, have you ever heard of AVALANCHE?" Tifa asked, her maroon eyes were deep and worried.

I snorted. "Duh, everyone's heard of AVALACHE! They saved the world! Twice!"

The woman nodded at my words. "So you never met AVALANCHE?"

"...No..." Why was this woman so interested in AVALANCHE, I thought they were my fans.

"I also found her with her Oritsuru." Creep added in.

"Of course, that's one of the best weapons on the Planet by the way." I gloated. I'm allowed to, it's pretty special.

That set off another batch of Creep's dark chuckling.

Tifa sighed heavily before looking back at me. "Listen." She said taking my hand. "There's something I have to tell you."

I frowned at her tone, it was too serious for my liking.

"Something seems to have happened to you since we last saw you. Before you interrupt me saying you didn't know us last week, just listen. You did know us last week; you've known us for the past three years."

Okay. These guys were crazier than I thought...

"Your life since you were sixteen is different than your memories dictate. When you were sixteen you joined AVALANCHE on their journey to defeat Sephiroth and met us. We're part of AVALANCHE." She indicated to herself and Creep.

So, so deluded.

"Yuffie you saved the world!" She exclaimed excited, grabbing hold of my other hand. "You're famous! You've seen the far corners of the Planet and embarked on dangerous missions across the world. It's lot to take in but this is the truth." There was conviction in her eyes but I just wasn't feeling it.

"Look, that's a very nice imagination you have, but I think you guys need to see someone. Someone in a white coat perhaps..." There was no nice way of putting it; these two were mad.

The woman stared at me. "Yeah I guess that did sound quite unrealistic." She blinked at me before snapping her fingers and running over to one of the camp beds.

"Barret's moving this week; that's why I'm here, so I have some of Marlene's old photos!" She fiddled around in a box that was hidden under one of the beds and picked out some photos. She brought them over and showed them to me one by one.

"Look, this was you three years ago."

The photo was set in a what looked like a bar or some kind of restaurant. The shelves were still bare and boxes lay scattered about the place. Creep, Big Boobs and three other weird looking men stood in the photo. A cat with a crown sat on top of the counter and a red lion like creature sat by their feet. There was a little girl standing by the feet of one of the other men and waving at the camera, she couldn't have been more than four.

There was another girl in the photo. She sat cross legged on the floor, waving her hands in the air. She had short dark brown hair and a giant shuriken attached to her back.

...Me.

"What?" I stared in disbelief at the photo, how could that be me?

"That was our first day in Edge. Cloud, Marlene and I had just moved into the new bar and everyone in AVALANCHE was giving us a hand."

An intense headache pounded against my brain as another snapshot appeared in my head. I was inside the bar in the photos and throwing little bits of polystyrene everywhere. The girl in photo joined in while Creep stood in the corner looking out the window. I pulled a face at the girl and spewed the white confetti all over Creep. I clutched my head in protested and let out a cry.

"Yuffie!" Tifa called, taking hold of my shoulders. "Yuffie what's wrong?"

I blinked. "I-I don't know." I stammered, taking another look at the photo Tifa had shown me. "Maybe you are telling the truth..."

Tifa smiled a bit, pointing out the people in the picture. "This is Cloud, that's Barret and his daughter Marlene, Cid's standing there and that's Cait Sith on the counter top. Nanaki is sitting by our feet, so are you and that's Vincent." She relayed, finally pointing to Creep.

So that was his real name... I liked Creep better.

But then a thought hit me. "If I was off with AVALANCHE for three years, what happened to my father, and Wutai?" I demanded.

"Lord Godo is faithfully helping his country recover from the Shinra war." Creep - sorry _Vincent_ - replied.

Dad was okay...

"It's late, you'd better get some sleep. It must be a lot to take in." Tifa told me, getting up and folding the fabric door of the tent back over.

_Vincent_ (I'm never going to get used to that name) had disappeared into the blackness that lay outside the tent's light but I never heard him go.

"You can sleep in Vincent's bed, he seems to be out for the night." She explained, nodding towards the bed I was sitting on.

I pulled off my heavy duty trainers and yanked the blanket down. But as soon as I had laid down, I regretted it. "Ow!" I yelped and pulled myself upright again. "Ow ow ow ow _ow!_" I complained, clutching my shoulder.

"Here, I'll heal it." She took a glowing green globe out of her pocket sat down on her own bed.

"That's not going to help!" I cried. "I think Vince had a Poison materia inside his gun, it'll just get infected if you restore it!" Geez, why'd she think I hadn't healed it already?

"This isn't a Restore, it's a Heal materia." Tifa explained, her hand now aglow with light green wisps of light.

...

"Oh."

'TGETITI'MTHEGREATNINJAYUFFIEKISARAGI!

Right, breathe Yuffie, she _is_ from AVALANCHE.

I watched as the green light expanded to engulf my shoulder and intensified. The green light got even bigger as I stared at the wonderful glow. Tiny green vines twisted in intricate patterns across my shoulder before finally it dulled, showing my fully healed shoulder.

"There. I used a Restore materia at the same time to heal the wound, it'll ache a bit tonight but you'll be fine by tomorrow." She put the materia away again and flicked her boots off. "See you in the morning Yuffie."

"Night Tifa." I replied, smiling slightly at her, she didn't seem like such a weirdo anymore.

I remembered I still had my socks on (I can't sleep with socks on, that's gross) and pulled them off quickly to find a surprise waiting for me...

I stared down at my feet in horror and disgust.

Where were my toes?

First, I find out everything I remember from the past three years in false (though I'm still debating that), and now I have no toes! What is that about?

I plucked up the courage to poke them with my hand and sure enough, there was something solid there! I could still wriggle them too, but why couldn't I see them?

Tifa stirred in her bed and I immediately flung my feet under my blanket to hide them. All she did was reach for the lantern above our heads and switch it off, but my heart was still in my mouth. I know I'm supposed to have known her for years but I didn't want to tell her I had no toes!

No, it's probably just a delusion I told myself. The Restore just made me a bit dizzy, I'll be fine in the morning.

I pulled the covers right over my head and tried to forget everything that had happened today.

...

Oh geez this was gonna be tougher than I thought!

OOOOOOOOOO

The rich tapestries of Wutai's pagoda stretched in front of me as I lay face up on the floor. My chest was heaving up and down like I had just run a marathon or two and I could see my father doing exactly the same thing next to me.

"O...old coot...n...ot...bad..." I wheezed between puffs.

"You've...also...improved..." My father huffed back.

I noticed the blonde man from the photo standing in the corner of the room along with _Vincent_. The four guardians of the pagoda were standing around us too, but not my teacher...

"Hah...Ha, ha..." I giggled in my weakened state.

"...Heh, heh..."

"Ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaa..." By this point both Godo and I were in fits of laughter on the floor.

"Wa ha haaaaa...!"

We continued laughing at eachother before finally regaining our composure and standing up.

"It's time I gave this to you, Yuffie..." Godo announced in a solemn voice. "This is Leviathan Materia. Take it." He produced a red glass orb from his pocket and chucked across the room.

I caught it (duh) and smirked.

"But Lord Godo. The Leviathan Materia should only be given to the person who conquers and takes over this pagoda. That is our custom..." Staniv interrupted. He never liked me.

But he wasn't gonna take it away from me! I earned it! "Custom, custom, custom! I'm so sick of hearing that! It's so stupid!" I exploded, stomping around the room.

"Silence, Miss Yuffie!" Gorky ordered me.

Like usual, I ignored him. "Then what 'bout all the rest of you? You have all that power, are you satisfied being cooped up in this tower?"

"Yuffie!" My father warned me.

"You too dad! Just because you lost the war! And turning Wutai into a place like this!"

"...What do you want to say?" Chekhov asked, shooting my father a warning look before he interrupted.

"You've turned Wutai into a cheesy resort town peddling to tourists, how dare you! Da Chao Statue and Leviathan are ashamed!"

The old man was speechless as I let rip.

"She _is_ a kid." Shake muttered from the corner of the room.

"Wh-What did you say?" I screamed, turning round.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Suddenly the room disappeared to black and I found myself sitting in a small bed inside a tent.

Oh yeah.

My heartbeat slowed as I sat in the darkness and tried to figure out what just happened. Big Boobs said I'd known her and Creep for three years, maybe we went to Wutai in that time? Was that a memory then?

I looked over at the table at the side of the room and saw my materia glowing iridescently. I could see the white form of Leviathan swimming round in snowy swirls inside a red globe. His tail swished dramatically, propelling him through the clouds of white, his eyes alight.

It was hard to believe all of this was true but, I guess I had no choice. There was no way around the situation, I just had to trust my 'captors'.


	4. The False Life Returns

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" I screamed as a huge green dragon came at me from behind.

How was I supposed to know it was there, it was hiding!

The dragon behind me screeched and began it's chase across the emerald forest.

It had been several days since I found out about the whole 'other life' thing. It was pretty scary really, I mean, who else has found out that the last three years of their life was a lie? Well, I'm still not sure it is, but I guess I have to believe them. After that night I told the two members of AVALANCHE about the images I kept seeing and they confirmed them as memories. Since then, _Vincent_ has been helping me track my path to where he found me. He said if we can find out where I've been for the past week, it might help us find out where my false life has come from.

Oh and my toes? Yeah they still weren't there in the morning... Weird...

Whatever, all I knew was that we were going on an adventure!

And I was being chased by a dragon...

"Vinnnnncennnnt!" I screamed again, the whole point of him coming with me was to protect me and where was he now? Probably frowning in a tree or something, geez that guy likes to be on his own. Every single night we've camped, as soon as I'd settled for the night he'd walk off! I don't even want to think about what he's doing out there...

A red cloaked figure appeared at my side and ran beside me, shooting bullets behind us.

"Where the hell have you been?" I shouted as we simultaneously jumped over a large rock.

He didn't answer, he just looked at me, and then back at the dragon.

I have also noticed Vincent is a man of few words.

The gunslinger let one more bullet free and the dragon behind us yelped in discomfort.

We stopped running at that sound and looked closely behind us. The dragon had stopped its charge.

"Is it dead?" I breathed, leaning on my knees for support.

The forest around us was silent. Only birds far off in the trees could be heard and the distant trickling of a stream. The dragon stirred.

"...No." He replied.

Then three things happened at once. One, I looked up at Vincent in surprise, the dragon looked pretty dead to me. Two, Vincent decided to throw himself on top of me and pin me to the ground. I know I'm good looking and all, but that was a bit much. Three, the dragon let loose and burnt everything within a one hundred yard radius.

Huh.

I guess it wasn't dead yet.

Luckily, as I was being being shielded by not only a man, but the large rock we had just jumped over, I wasn't touched by the flames. Really, I was more worried by the six foot, pale skinned, very fit (as I had just found out when he threw himself on me) male that was pinning me to the floor.

After the dragon had finished destroying the land around it, it let out another shriek and slumped on the floor. I couldn't see it slumping, but I could hear it.

Moments later, Vincent was still on top of me.

Another few moments later, he was still there... Not that I'm complaining or anything!

"Err Vincent?"

The gunslinger turned his head to look at me. Now we were so close, our noses brushed each other.

I swallowed. "Would you mind, you know, getting off me?"

His liquid red eyes stared into me before he finally stood up and stamped the flames out on his cloak.

So that's why it was so battered.

"Geez there are dragons here?" I asked, getting myself off the floor. "This isn't much of a dream world, more like a nightmare."

Nightmare...

The same dizzy feeling overcame me as I recalled another 'memory'. I was inside a dark room filled with skeletons and coffins. There was a damp smell in the air and something was dripping far away. The blonde man was there again and so was Big Boobs. He was lifting the lid on one of the coffins. Idiot. Suddenly the lid sprung off its hinges and a figure sat up from inside the coffin. I was absolutely terrified but I tried to stay calm. The dust soon settled and the figure was revealed.

"Yuffie?" Vincent asked, crouching over my collapsed form.

I blinked up at him. "Ahhhhhhhhh!" I screamed, scrambling away.

His eyebrows knotted together again.

"V-Vampire!" I yelled, pointing at him with a shaky hand.

Vincent's look of worry turned to disdain. "I'm not a vampire." He replied monotonously.

"B-but I just saw you! You were in some dark room in a _coffin!_ I knew there was something weird about you!"

He sighed at my response and walked away. "I'm not a vampire."

"Well, then what were you doing in a coffin?" Now I was more intrigued than scared, and jogged up beside him as he walked.

"..."

"Come on, tell me!" I poked him in the arm in an attempt to persuade him.

"..."

It didn't work. "Come on, otherwise I'll just think you're a crazed vampire out for my blood." I threatened, making gnashing sounds with my teeth.

"..."

I sighed. "Fine, be all grumpy. My water bottle's empty, can we fill up?" I asked as I headed off the path and towards the sound the stream on my left.

He never replied but I'm guessing he followed me anyway, I'd already gotten myself into enough trouble with the dragon.

I loved this part of the Planet. Okay so I haven't explored much of it yet (or at least in my false life hadn't explored it) but this part was beautiful. We were exploring the forests West of Gongaga. Vincent had found a few clues like burnt out fires and torn clothing to lead us along this path but we hadn't seen much for a while now. Not that I was complaining, these forest were gorgeous! They were lush and green - the opposite of the forests around Wutai - and we kept finding little streams of perfect turquoise water. There was life everywhere and everything smelt different because of the variety of flowers and plants.

As I pulled my way through the undergrowth of this flourishing jungle, I found yet another beautiful jade coloured stream. It glided smoothly across my path and disappeared again in a swamp of trees. The water trickled like bells past me as I took out my water bottle to fill up.

The trees behind me rustled feverishly and a hand darted out, grabbing me around the waist and pulling me back.

All the breath was sucked out of me as I was jerked back and was pulled back against something hard.

Oh. Vincent's chest. I should have known.

I looked up at his face to give me some clue why he had decided to grab so suddenly, but he gave nothing away. "Vince?"

He let go of my waist and crouched down next to the stream, engulfing his golden left hand into the water. When he pulled it out, the pool that was created in his palm had a strange iridescent tinge to it, like the soap solution you use to make bubbles.

"What's wrong with it?" I asked. Of course something was wrong with it, when was the last time water look like that!

Vincent studied the water closely before letting it drain off one of his fingertips. He stared down at the water before replying. "...The lifestream." He stated.

"The lifestream?" I repeated. I didn't know much about the lifestream. It was where you went if you died but also how Shinra made their power. That's why Wutai were so against Shinra, they knew they were draining an invaluable source.

"It seems to have surfaced in more than one place." The other being in Mideel, I knew that. "No one has noticed it here because it is hidden beneath this stream." He stood up slowly, still staring at the stream. "This might have something to do with your memories; ingesting this water, or falling in it, could damage your brain permanently."

Okay, so the lifestream was a no go area.

"It's already getting dark, we'd better set up camp and explore the area tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan!" I agreed, following him away from the stream. I don't know why, but I was kind of scared of what could have happened to me.

As I followed, Vincent stopped suddenly and stared into the distance.

"What's wrong?" Seriously, not much else could wrong with this day!

"...You called me Vince."

OOOOOOOOOOO

We shared a small fire just off the dusty path we had been walking down and cooked our meal over it (just tinned rations, but it was better than nothing). There was a strange silence that had overcome the two of us, well no, just me, Vincent never talks anyway, and I intended to stop it.

"So, in this life, how do I know you?" I asked whilst I ate my food.

"...What do you mean?" Step one, he had actually spoken!

"Like how did we meet, how well do I know you, are we even friends?"

"..." Oh great, back to nothing. "You know how we met."

Oh yeah, creepy vampire moment.

"We're comrades. We've fought a lot of battle together."

"Huh." I replied. Well that was boring. No rampant love affairs, nothing! Well okay there was a madman trying to take over the Planet that we stopped but that wasn't much! I smiled to myself. "It's hard to believe I did all these things when I was so young." I stared into the fire and remembered all those years training in Wutai, could that really all be a dream? What about Sensei? Was he a dream too? I hoped not.

We soaked in the silence that followed.

"I still can't believe it's all a lie." I told him. "Everyone was so real, how could I lead such a different life?"

"You can lead whatever life you want, there are no boundaries."

"True..." Oh man the conversation was dying out again. I had to think fast. "How did you find me, you know, when this whole thing happened?"

"I was looking for you." He simply stated.

"Well why were you looking for me?"

"..." His eyes were glazed over in thought and I could see the fire reflecting in them. "You had asked me to help you the week earlier. There were strange disappearances happening South of Cosmo Canyon and you wanted to investigate them. I denied and you never returned..."

...

Ah.

"Oh gawd." I snorted.

This was not the response Vincent was anticipating and it brought him out of his trance.

"You think it was your fault this happened to me, don't you? Are you an idiot? Like you could have saved me! If the Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi can't handle it, who can?"

I could see him smirking under his coat.

"I'm going to sleep." I announced, unravelling my sleeping bag, pulling my shoes off - though I was careful to keep my socks on, Vincent didn't need to know I was a toeless freak - and snuggling inside.

"Goodnight Yuffie." I heard him whisper as my eyelids sank.

OOOOOOOO

I awoke with a damp smell up my nose and an uncomfortable mattress beneath my head.

"Is she waking up?" A voice whispered.

I stirred in my bed and sat up slowly. "Ow!" I yelped. I looked over to where the pain was to see a massive hole in my shoulder... I looked around me to find myself back in North Corel, and a chocobo peeping through the entrance. My chocobo.

"Good morning." A voice called. "I'm sorry about the shoulder wound, Vincent forgot who he was fighting."

"Tifa?" The dark haired woman sat across from me with breakfast in one hand. She frowned.

"...Yes. How did you know my name?"

Ah.

Crap.

Again.

A/N: I managed to get four reviews on chapter 2 but only two on chapter 3. Please tell me your thoughts on my story, or just what you think is happening! Reviews are my only inspiration so please do so, just I know people are enjoying my story! But a big thank you to those who did review, it made my day!


	5. An Alternate Body?

Okay, I must have food poisoning or something. First, I get attacked by members of AVALANCHE. Then, I find myself in another universe where I was part of AVALANCHE. Then, I find out all my memories from the past three years were false. _Then_, I get a attacked by a dragon and nearly end up drink the lifestream. Now, well I'm back in the 'fake' world with my attackers.

Fantastic.

Oh, and my attacker wants to know how I know her name. Who's the stalker now?

"Oh, lucky guess!" I cringed, smiling cheesily.

The woman looked me up and down sceptically before handing me the plate in her arms. "Here, I thought you might be hungry after our little run in."

Damn. I should have just said I knew her from AVALANCHE. Gawd, I'm such an idiot sometimes.

Sometimes.

I gratefully accepted the plate and shovelled the food in energetically.

"That's an apology for Vincent's attack. He's a bit uptight like that sometimes." Yeah, right. "But what were you doing stealing our materia like that, and what were you doing wondering around in the forest on your own?"

"Um I'm allowed, I'm nineteen." I explained between mouthfuls.

She blinked at me. "Oh, sorry, you just look a lot younger." She laughed. "I'm going to go and get some materia to heal your shoulder, I'll be back in a minute." With that, she walked out of the little tent - pushing my chocobo's head out with her - and her footsteps faded in with the sounds of machinery and people milling about outside.

I finished my plate and placed it neatly on the side before standing up slowly. My shoulder burnt fiercely with every movement but I wanted to see what the outside world looked like.

As I stepped out into world, all the muffled sounds I'd heard before became real and a wind seeped through my skin. I could smell hot food in the air and the huge mountains North of North Corel stood above me like two giant guardians. The wind refreshed me from the groggy, uncomfortable sleep I had just received and I wondered if that whole experience was just a dream.

Thinking back over what had happened, it probably was just a really vivid dream, I mean, who else would believe the last three years of their life was a total lie? I must have remembered the two AVALANCHE members and they were just placed inside the dream too.

But how did I know Tifa's name?

I didn't have much time to dwell on these thoughts as my chocobo nudged me and brought me out of my thoughts, tugging on the sleeve of my shirt. I petted him for a few moments before a familiar man came into sight.

"Hia Vincent." I greeted.

"...How did you know my name?"

Again. How could I be this stupid. Again.

Luckily, I thought of a quick answer. "Tifa told me when I woke up." Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk...

He grunted in reply and looked around. "Where is she?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "She said she was going to get some materia for my shoulder."

He nodded and walked off, presumably to find Tifa, but you never know with that dude.

I returned to grooming my golden chocobo but my mind was still reeling with questions. Their personalities are exactly the same, how could I have known that? I felt confused but somewhat happy, I was glad to be back in my own world.

Only moments later did the gun slinger stride back to my side. "She's not here."

"Who's not here?" I wasn't listening to what he was saying, I was staring behind him.

"Tifa."

"Oh."

He frowned at my answer.

"Hey, wasn't there two mountains there before?" I asked nonchalantly even though my mind was screaming at me.

His frown deepened before he turned around to look.

Behind him, the beautiful view I had awoken to of mountains and forests had been disrupted. Well, not so much disrupted as DISAPPEARED! What looked like a huge black cloud had engulfed one of the mountains in our view and was moving towards the town. As it moved closer, we could see that it wasn't so much of a cloud, more of a giant black sea that disintegrated anything in its path. It was like the land was being covered in huge vat of sticky oil, spreading across the sky and blocking out the sun's rays. You couldn't see it was destroying things but I had a feeling in the depths of my gut to run, to run far away from that thing and stay away. It was also, like I said, moving towards us.

"We need to move." Vincent told me, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the sea.

But something else happened as we moved. The people who were around us didn't seem to notice, they just went around their normal business.

Oh, and that wasn't it.

A man walked past us and towards the ever nearing void, but when I stuck my hand out to stop him, my hand went straight through him! The man didn't even look up before his body started flickering like a bad light bulb as his body passed in and out out existence. I stepped back towards Vincent in terror. "What's happening?" I asked.

More and more people around us started to disappear and the black oil wrenched it's way through the town. All hope wasn't lost until we saw the same cloud encircling us with no where to run.

"Stay close." Vincent ordered me. He pulled out a gun from beneath his cloak and fired at the gloop. We watched as the bullet seemed to slow down as it neared the void and was absorbed into it.

I grabbed hold of Vincent's golden arm and closed my eyes tight as the wave of black finally engulfed us.

That was it. I knew it. That was it.

Wait, I was still breathing. I couldn't feel anything under my feet, or which way was up but Vincent's arm was still there in my hands.

I pulled my eyelids open again and stared in wonder at what was around me.

Nothing.

All that was around me was black and dense. But for some reason I could still see the tall man by my side, staring into the darkness.

"..."

"Yeah." I replied, reaching out my hand to feel nothing.

Suddenly a force like a current started to drag on me. I held on to Vincent and he seized my other hand as we struggled against the force.

"Don't leave me!" I yelled desperately. My hands were slipping off his smooth metal arm and I couldn't keep my grip. "Please!"

I pulled and pulled but the force was too strong, it was starting to hurt me. Only the ends of my fingertips were still attached to Vincent as the current pushed us apart fiercely. There were tears in my eyes as we finally parted. "No!" I screamed.

He tried to reclaim my arm but he started being pulled in the opposite direction.

"Vincent!" I cried. His body faded into the black and I was left alone, floating in nothing.

OOOOOOOO

I was awoken by two hands on my shoulders shaking me violently.

"Yuffie?" Vincent's head came into vision as he kneeled above me with a concerned look in his eyes.

Vincent? I briefly saw trees around us and a sleeping bag over me through my blurry eyes. I must have been in the 'other world'.

My head throbbed in pain as I clutched hold of him, crying.

"..." He didn't seem to know what to do with a hysterical teen but he sat there and let me hug him, which is all I wanted him to do.

"I was so scared." I whispered into his chest, tears still streaming from my eyes.

Then he did something I never ever thought he'd do. He hugged me back. Not properly, but enough to show he cared.

We sat there for ages in silence, I was just happy to be alive! After, Vincent asked me what had happened and I told him of the 'dream' I'd had. He listened, not once interrupting and still held me when I burst into to tears again.

"We need to find out what's happening." He merely stated after I was over my crying fit and he started to pack up our little camp.

I was still in shock from the dream, it was so vivid, was that what it was like to be dead? But I knew we had to find out so I got up out of my sleeping bag-

And immediately jumped back in.

My shirt had rolled up while I was sleeping and guess what!

I HAD NO STOMACH.

NONE.

NADA.

ZILTCH.

Well, just like my toes I could still poke it and feel it, but you couldn't see it!

What is _wrong_ with me?

That was probably a good time to tell Vincent, but no, I kept it to myself. It was too gross.

I pulled my top back down and slowly got out of my sleeping bag, careful so it didn't ride up again.

"Ready?" He asked as I packed up my stuff.

"Uh huh." I replied, pulling down my top again, incredibly self concious, and starting off into the trees towards the stream.

We'd only been walking for a hour or two before we spotted an old wooden shed nearby the river. Planks were rotting and falling off the roof, plus it was only the size of a toilet, but we stopped twenty feet away and discussed a plan of entry.

My idea was to just bust in there and kick any ass we saw, but _someone_ thought it would be too risky.

Instead, we decided to enter with the utmost secrecy.

"Can you do that?" Vincent asked me.

"Duh. I'm a ninja, ninjas are like the Kings of being silent. Or Queens." I replied, walking towards the shed.

I pulled the metal latch on the old wooden door upwards slowly and pulled it open. I looked into the black room and waited for my eyes to adjust. There nothing there but a large hole in the ground in which a staircase had been carved into the stone. You couldn't see anything past the fifth step but you could smell dampness and something rotting down there.

"Grossness." I muttered to myself. "I'm guessing we're going down there?" I whispered to Vincent.

He grunted at me, his gun by his side.

I sighed. "Yay! Dark holes in the ground, my favourite."

Vincent shushed me immediately.

"Oh, like they're going to hear us coming." I joked, turning round.

I really shouldn't have.

I _thought_ I had good balance.

I _thought_ I could take a step back and still stay upright.

But apparently that's too much for a world class ninja. I tripped over my own feet (which partly aren't even there for love of Leviathan!) and went sprawling down the stairs, screaming as I did so. It wasn't that long a staircase, but I knew I was gonna end up with some pretty nice purple bruises the next day. I also managed to ingest a mouthful of dirt as I hit the bottom.

Vincent appeared at my side, his gun pointed in front of me.

I looked up off the floor and stared at all five faces staring back at me. There weren't any proper lights down in this mini cave, but a blue glow came off the computer screens dotted all over the place. Three men and two women all in lab coats stood over the screens and stared in fear at us.

"Not the entrance we were hoping for." Vincent murmured to me.

"It's not like they wouldn't notice us anyway." I replied, picking myself off the floor and readying my Oritsuru. "What are you guys doing?" I shouting to the pale faced group, spitting the dust out of my mouth as I spoke.

They stared at one another before nodding and bringing out weapons of their own from under their coats.

"This is none of your business, but I'm afraid we can't let you leave." One of the men told me, flicking the knives in his hands.

I snickered. "Yeah, you and who's army?" There was still dirt on my tongue so I spat again.

Grossness.

"...This is private property." He ignored my question! I knew that was a blatant lie.

"Really?" I snorted sarcastically. "Well then the real question is, are you hungry?"

The group frowned at me, glancing at each other. Even Vincent looked over at me in question.

"Hungry?" He repeated.

"'Cause you're about to eat my shuriken!" I yelled, letting my Oritsuru fly through the room. It hit one of the females in the gut.

Gunshots rang behind me as I vaulted over one of the screens and claimed my Oritsuru back. I downed one of the men easily by stabbing him in the back and looked over at Vincent. We'd made short work of this bunch, the other woman was already slumped over her screen and another man on the floor. Vincent had the last up against the wall, his gun pointed directly between the man's eyes.

"Please, please don't shoot, I'll tell you anything!" He begged, his hands were up in the air and shaking like crazy.

"What are you doing here?" Vincent demanded.

"W-We were experimenting on the lifestream that surfaced in the stream next to us." He stammered.

"Why?"

"Well you see-" Vincent pushed his gun further into the man's forehead. "No, no I'll tell you I promise! We all used to work for Shinra and we knew a lot about lifestream already. We hoped if our theories were correct we could use them to get jobs again."

"What theories?" This question came from me, I was now stood next to Vincent, my Oritsuru in my hand.

"There were reports that when Midgar residents were exposed to the lifestream and got Geostigma, they saw hallucinations before they died. In some cases, they created a whole other reality. We wanted to see if we could create another universe using the lifestream and manipulating someone's memories. We thought in that world maybe Shinra might not have been created and we could have saved everyone a lot of hardship." He admitted.

"_Someone's_ memories. You mean my memories." I corrected him.

He swallowed.

"Aw cat got your tongue? Maybe if I chopped it off you'd find it easier to speak?" I offered, brushing my Oritsuru against his cheek.

"N-No! I mean yes, it was your memories! Please, please don't kill me!" He whined.

"Why shouldn't we?" My Oritsuru was moving closer to the man's throat.

"B-Because it's not our fault. S-Something went wrong when you met people you weren't supposed to meet and the whole world collapsed in on itself." That explained the black void. "Not to mention your alternate body came through to our universe too."

Wait, what?

"Alternate body?" Vincent repeated, his gun still being pushed between the man's eyes.

The man nodded quickly and his bulging eyes glanced at me. You could see sweat pouring out of him.

"...Me?" I whispered. "I'm... I'm an alternate body?" I stepped back from the man and dropped my Oritsuru. "No." I said shaking my head. "No, it's not true, I'm not."

"Are you lying?" Vincent asked slowly.

"No, no I promise!" The scientist squealed.

"Where's her real body then?"

"Through the door over there, she's fine honest, she just can't wake up while her other body's in this universe. They can't exist at the same time." He explained, pointing shakily to a door on the other side of the room.

Vincent removed the gun slowly from the white garbed man's head and moved closer towards him, so now they were only inches away from each other, and whispered, "Run."

The man did so immediately, and not very gracefully. He stumbled passed me and shot up the stairs to our left.

By this time I had retreated to leaning on one of the computer screens for support. To be told that you aren't real, that you are a computer simulation, is too much for one brain to handle. My breathing had increased rapidly and my head started spinning.

"He might still have been lying." Vincent murmured when he saw me.

I shook my head - which made the dizziness a lot worse. "It explains everything. Even this." I pulled up my shirt and showed him my non-existent stomach, through which you could see the blue screen behind me.

He stared, his blood red eyes reflecting the monitor's display. "...When did this happen?" He asked slowly.

"This morning. My toes disappeared when we were still in North Corel." I admitted, a single tear falling down my cheek.

He grunted. "We must see if he's lying. I know it will be hard." His eyes were still on my missing stomach.

I nodded again and shuffled towards the door, my heart beating like a hurricane as I approached. My warm hands touched the metallic handle and turned it slowly.

This was it. Whatever was behind this door showed me who and what I was.

A/N: Yes I was able to update! I hope this chapter answered a lot of questions you had but if you're still confused please message me and I will answer! The final chapter will hopefully be up tomorrow evening GMT time. I've been overwhelmed with support in the last chapter and I was nearly crying this morning with all the reviews I received! Please, please review again if you want to read the next chapter, support is all I have!


	6. Finale

The door swooped open when I pushed it lightly and I was met with darkness yet again.

One small light bulb flickered and swayed in the wind I had just created. It cast a small white glow in the centre of the cube-like room but didn't reach the black corners. The light descended in waves across a metal table stationed just below the bulb. A small monitor sat next to it, bleeping mutely to the heartbeat of the body lying there.

The body. It was so familiar, and yet so distant. Her face was grey and emotionless, stripped of colour and life. Her hair hung limply in her eyes and sprawled across the pillow beneath her head. Wires were stuck in her body at odd and uncomfortable angles, she also had red scars where more wires had been before. A white sheet covered her naked body in a less than dignified way and one hand fell from the table and hung loosely.

I stepped closer and closer, wishing this was a dream I could wake up from, wishing this wasn't true. I swallowed when I stood next to her, studying the broken body. I could see black bruises through the sheet from where she had fought for her life. There was a bandage wrapped around her waist but congealed blood was seeping through in a dark scarlet colour.

That was the real me. That was who I was.

There was a clanking behind me as Vincent entered the room, but the sound to me was far off, as if you were underwater.

Tears fell at an uncontrollable speed down my cheeks and onto Yuffie's bare skin, moistening the it.

"How... How could anything like this actually happen?" I whispered to myself. "Why would someone do such a thing? ...Maybe, I'll just wake up, and this will all be a horrible nightmare. It can't be true, can it?" I rambled at no one. "I mean, everyone I knew was a simulation? Dad, Sensei, Vincent?" Their faces appeared briefly in my mind; my father's proud face as I left home, Sensei's smile as he looked down at the town from Da Chao, Vincent's face in the void as we slipped out of each other's arms. Everything I feel, everything I am, can that really be a lie?

I reached out and touched the face in front of me. Her skin was ice cold at my touch and I felt a strange sensation passing though me. My fingertips tingled from the touch and I brought them up, studying the strange feeling. As I watched, the flesh from my finger disintegrated and seemed to brake off into the air, shattering into tiny pieces and scattering into the air like glitter. I choked back a gasp as new tears sprung. I went to pull up my shirt when I found half of it had already disappeared. I was now in two parts. The stomach that was once there I could now cleanly put my hand through. My feet had already started disintegrating too. My blurry eyes looked up at the man beside. "I don't wanna go. I don't wanna leave." I pleaded.

His eyes were welling up. "...I don't know what to do."

"Don't leave me, please! I don't wanna be on my own again." I latched my arms around the man's chest and cried silently, watching the glitter rising.

His breathing was steadier than mine and he held me tighter, tighter than ever before.

Of course this just made me feel sadder about the fact I would leave him behind. That I would never see him again. I would never see anyone, not my family, not my friends. The world the real Yuffie had seen I would never discover. I would never see the annual fireworks at the Gold Saucer, or the beauty of Cosmo Canyon in a sunset. I would never have a husband, I would never have a family of my own.

My life was ending.

Here and now.

I pulled my head from Vincent's warm chest and looked up into his sad eyes. "Thank you. Thank you for everything. I will never forget you." I whispered, smiling. Now only my thighs and hips remained below my waist, my shoulders and head being the only thing above that. Of course I could still feel them, but I couldn't touch anything.

Then I did something I thought I would never have the courage to do. I leaned up to Vincent's face and kissed him softly on the lips. I tried to wrap my arms around his neck but they just went straight through him, like a ghost. I pulled back as the last of my lower body disappeared and my neck was starting to dissolve. "Take care of her." I told him.

His hand rested on my cheek and he nodded slowly.

"Goodbye Vince." I whispered finally.

As the last my face disappeared from view I saw Vincent's hand drop as he stared into the space where my eyes had been. "...Goodbye Yuffie."

Then, all was black.

OOOOOOOOOOO

The air in the continent of Wutai was always humid, cicadas chirped happily in the browning trees and apart from a few spurts of grass, dust lay along the dry paths. Da Chao's rock was decaying slightly, but it did every year. The sun swam in the hot air just above the small town and a wind from the ocean blew in every few minutes, lifting the lifeless dust from its position and swirling it through sky.

A man stood on the tallest point of Da Chao, looking out over the beautiful town and the surrounding wilderness. His traditional kimono flapped in the breeze which had unsettled the dust behind him, throwing it into curves and twists. The mop of brown hair on his head wavered until the breeze calmed.

"Sensei."

The man turned from his vantage point and bowed low. "Miss Yuffie, it is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Oh, yeah. Sure." I replied, scratching the back of my head.

"Do you wish to speak to me?"

"Yeah, um, Sensei-"

"Please, do not call me such a word, for I was never your teacher."

"Oh. Yeah. Well, sir, I just wanted to thank you for all the things you've done for my village for the past three years, even though I haven't been here myself." I answered, fiddling with the various fastening on my shorts.

"It is an honour to work in such a place Miss Yuffie."

"Well, that was it. I'm off now... It was nice to finally meet you." I waved briefly at the man.

"And you Miss Yuffie." He nodded his head and watched me walk away.

It had only been a couple of days since I had awoken in that weird room, but so much had changed.

For one, I remembered everything. I mean _everything_. I don't know how it happened, or why, but I ended up not only with my memories but with my other body's memories as well, and her life in this world. That's how I knew Sensei, and why I had to thank him, he'd been so good to the other me. My body was also healing fast from the experiments, I couldn't even walk when I first woke up!

I walked back down the mountain path and met the man who had gotten me through it all. "All done Vinnie!"

He scowled at the nickname and but walked with me back towards Wutai. "Is that all you wanted to do?"

"Yeah, and just say hey to dad, I haven't seen him in a while." I replied, scuffing my shoes on the ground.

He grunted in reply.

"Oh, and, I'm sorry she called you a vampire."

"You remember that too?"

"Yep! But come on, it was a bit weird, you can't blame her! I'm sorry she called you Creep too."

"...What?"

...

Uh oh.

"Huh? Nothing." I lied, my cheek's flaring.

"What did she call me?"

"Geez nothing Vince just let it go! Hey, is that Cid over there?"

"Yuffie." He replied in a warning tone.

"It's nothing! Honest!"

He sighed and carried on walking, thinking better than to argue with me.

Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk...

I giggled at his expression and grabbed onto his arm, intertwining our fingers.

I was so happy.

Thank you alternate Yuffie, thank you.

A/N: Done! Done, done, done, done, done! I'm so happy with this story, even though it's confused so many people! I'll be happy to answer questions or write a brief summary of what happened in an extra chapter if you feel you need it! Thank you so much again to all the people who reviewed, you are all wonderful, lovely people! Check out my page for more Yuffentines and take it easy!


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